2. St. Louis University: Billikens

This elfish creature came to an art teacher in a dream, and she proceeded to make bank selling him as a good luck charm worldwide. SLU adopted the mascot because (supposedly) one of their athletic coaches looked like a Billiken.

3. University of California, Santa Cruz: Banana Slugs

Students voted for this slug mascot to mock the attention that university athletics receive. School officials overthrew the vote in favor of a sea lion mascot, but student rage got the slug back. (Also, John Travolta wears a banana slug shirt in Pulp Fiction.)

5. Scottsdale Community College: Fighting Artichokes

This mascot shares a similar story with previously mentioned UCSC. Students voted on the vegetable mascot and had to fight the administration to keep it. Now it's been accepted (and eaten) happily by all.

8. Centenary College: Ladies and Gentlemen

9. Evergreen State College: Geoducks

Get this: A geoduck is not a duck, but a type of mollusk! A huge, moderately freaky-looking one at that. Because Evergreen has such a funky mascot, they have an equally funky fight song that deserves some attention.

10. State University of New York College of Environmental Science and Forestry: Acorns

11. Purdue University: Boilermakers

Boilermakers produce steel fabrications, so it makes complete sense that Purdue would have this mascot in this day and age. Better still is their mascot named Boilermaker Special, who is a train (think Thomas).